Thanks again to local dewy, badass goddess, Kaila, for being a fantastic model. Strength, beauty, power, and ANGLES. Kaila can do it all- she undoubtedly embodies black girl magic. Also, can we talk about these thrifting skills?

Photog friends... hit her up. She knows her stuff.

Anyway, here are some NEVER BEFORE SEEN *woooo* shots from our shoot... I have to be able to post them all somewhere, right?

However, I will dissent from Art + Paul in one way; I believe the real Sound of Silence is the always-too-long amount of time I spend without seeing my sweet younger sis, Hannah.

But today, there was music! Literal tunes drifting in and out of the old boombox in the Jordan Hall Greenhouse, yes. But, you know, the harmony of reuniting... that kinda thing.

Anyway.

Hannah is getting older, as we all are, and each time we sit across the table from each other I notice something more thought-provoking or mature or witty or vulnerable emanating from her. What an aura the aura of growing up is. She'll be in her Spring semester of her freshman year at college a year from now, which shakes me to my very roots. And although I'd like to hang on dearly to the crooked-toothed, sassy gal on the monkey bars it's easy for me to see her as, that wouldn't be fair.

Someone very near and dear to my heart remarked to me recently that studying and making art is a means of preserving culture, and frankly, I haven't stopped thinking about that since. What can "culture" mean? All, if not lots of things, I suppose. The culture of thought, science, empathy, history, human-nature, beauty, scrambled eggs. The list goes on.

So today I guess it felt nice to be able to preserve the 'culture' of "17-year-old on the brink of exciting and really-freakin-intimidating change" Hannah. And I'm sure glad that meant laughing about boys and memes over lots of vegetables and sweating profusely in a greenhouse together.

Glossier (glossy-aye) is a revolutionary beauty company that launched in 2014 by the wonderful and incredibly savvy woman, Emily Weiss. And if you follow me on Instagram or have met me in real life, you'd know I'm fairly obsessed with them. I can't recall if it was the allure of dewy-looking skin or the bright, fun social media accounts that drew me in, but I've been hooked ever since the Phase 1 Set. Here are a few in-depth reasons why!

2. Boy Brow: The platonic ideal of a Glossier product, really. Easy, effortless, and quick. I haven't used another brow product since purchasing this one. It thickens, fills in, and colors all in a few swipes- what more could you ask for?

3. Mission(s): I watched an interview recently where Weiss mentioned the historic clutter of the beauty industry, which was really what drove her to form a collection of essential products. Less decisions to make, less stress, more promise. She also added something I think is extremely powerful; the beauty consumer is shifting to want to look like their best self, rather than mimicking a celebrity. And this is something I find to be true about myself; I feel most confident when I know I'm accenting MY features the best I can.

4. Stretch Concealer: These days, especially those that start at 7am, I need my beauty routine to be as efficient as possible. Nothing satisfies my needs for coverage, speed, and quality more than this product. It doesn't cake or dry up like most other concealers I've used, and is super easy to throw in my school bag to use throughout the day (well, on days I'm awake enough to remember to do so).

5. Black Tie Set: I received this set as an early Christmas present from my mother, who said, "I believe you'll be needing this for the upcoming holiday party season," and boy was she right. Although I've adopted a pretty strict brows-and-concealer-only beauty routine lately, I do love dewy-ing up my cheeks with Haloscope in moonstone (made with real moonstones!), and adding a smoky accent to my eyes with the graphite liner. This set really has it all, and if you'd like to know how to use it all I suggest checking out this video!

6. Transparent brand: See also #1. How many other brands publish articles on their blogs detailing directly where they get funding? In addition, their social media accounts feature real reposts from women/men/nonbinaries who use their products. And Weiss goes through the #glossier tag on Instagram almost every morning to see what people are talking about, using, and doing with their products. This makes the consumer feel connected, and, well, human!

If you ever want to chat about product recommendations or anything of the like, feel free to DM me through social media/shout at me across the street/ask me in person. I'm always down to talk and support brands I love!

I think I'm going to start profiling/blogging about those who are gracious enough to let me shove my camera in their sweet faces. So here's the first one.

Hannah is one of the brightest, most radiant, intelligent human beings I've ever come into contact with. And I'm sure glad I did (and we're roomies now too, how awesome). Our nights are filled with wine, business homework, endless laughs, and bad movies. Our other beautiful roomie, Riley, is a super talented artist and took pictures of Hannah this past weekend for a series she's working on (find her work here: http://www.rileydismore.com). I remember Hannah mentioning a few times how beautiful it made her feel, and that really stuck with me.

Recently I've been struggling with finding a "purpose" or "direction" with my photography. One of the worst things about me, if you don't know/haven't interviewed me and asked the "what's your greatest weakness" question, is that I'm likely the most existentially-lost-in-the-details person you'll ever meet. This is derivative of years of perfectionism and chronic late night thoughts. And I still haven't decided if my direction can be found on a spectrum, but I have decided that what I want to do is make people feel happy and loved and confident.

So today, I asked Hannah if she'd model for me. We ran down alleyways and jumped over puddles and for 30 minutes our crazy Monday was free and adventurous. Although it was for a class project, there are photos here that she and I both will probably treasure for a long time to come.

And maybe that's my photography's purpose- providing a space to feel beautiful and free and expressive. Capturing moments. They're all we have.

Thanks again to Hannah, local Dominican goddess, for tagging along with me today.